Tenet has announced it will close its network, with its appointed representatives moving to The Openwork Partnership as part of an exclusive agreement with the company.
The agreement will provide Tenet's firms and advisers the choice of retaining their independent status through Openwork's IFA business 2plan Wealth Management or becoming part of the restricted Openwork proposition.
Tenet Group, which is owned by Aviva, Abrdn and Aegon, made the announcement following completion of a strategic review.
This move could introduce 170 new firms into The Openwork Partnership, add more than 360 new advisers to the network, and £6bn of assets.
Meanwhile LSL Property Services, owner of the Primis mortgage network, has bought TenetLime, the mortgage and protection advisory network with 133 appointed representatives.
Tenet chief executive Helen Ball said: “Openwork and Primis have strong reputations for supporting appointed representatives and they can be confident that their new homes will allow them to grow with the support, freedom and control their businesses need.
“Our focus now is to work with all the parties in these transactions to deliver a smooth transition for our stakeholders.”
The Tenet & You, Tenet Mortgage Solutions and Tenet Financial Services advisory brands will remain with Tenet and will continue to advise clients.
Tenet Compliance Services is also retained in the group and will continue to support and provide compliance services and regulatory support for directly authorised advisory firms.
Richard Houghton, chief executive of The Openwork Partnership, said: "Not only does this exclusive agreement represent a brilliant opportunity for The Openwork Partnership commercially, but it also demonstrates our continued commitment to ensuring everyone in the UK has access to financial advice.
"The fact that we can provide such a wide range of options to the Tenet Wealth Management firms demonstrates the breadth and strength of the The Openwork Partnership."
Phillip Hilling, chairperson of Tenet Group, said: “The board of Tenet is pleased to announce the completion of our strategic review which concluded that these transactions affecting Tenet’s AR networks are in the long-term best interest of all stakeholders, and we are delighted to have secured well-established, successful businesses with matching cultures for our customers and their advisers.
“These outcomes provide certainty and sustainability for our ARs, customers and employees and support our ultimate objective of producing good consumer outcomes.”
The process
Tenet said the process of transferring customers, advisers and colleagues would be managed by the group in close co-operation with the respective counterparties and it is expected all moves will be completed by mid-2024.
Communications with network members and colleagues are underway and will continue throughout the sale and transfer processes.
The company said it will continue to operate all key services as normal during the transfer period and does not anticipate any adverse impact on customers, who will continue to deal with their regular adviser as usual, or any member operations.
Hilling added: “We look forward to working with Openwork and LSL in ensuring a smooth transfer of appointed representatives and our employees.
